The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they’re still alive. -Orlando A. Battista

I have always liked to read. It is through the writings and records of others that I can see and experience things that are not possible otherwise. Take history for example. By reading the writings of long ago, I am able to travel the world to bygone eras in a flash.

But history is not the only thing I like to read. What I really appreciate is letters from loved ones. Our time here on Earth is finite. We never know which precious moment will be our last. Yet for some strange reason, we do not make full use of each moment. We do not let our loved ones know how much we appreciate them as often as we should. While telling them verbally is the minimum requirement, it is better to let them know through letters from time to time. It is only through writing that we can immortalize our thoughts and feelings.

Immortalizing Each Moment

Writing a heartfelt letter takes time. It makes you pause to reflect on why you value the recipient at the given time. Each moment contains many instances for gratefulness. Unless you make the effort to acknowledge and record these moments, they will just pass you by.

Immortalizing Words

While you could and should tell your loved one how much you appreciate them verbally, words are easy to forget. Words are after all nothing more than hot air without actions to back them up. Unlike words that fade with time, a letter captures and immortalizes a moment. If the situation is worth remembering, then putting down what you think and feel in a letter makes it last a much longer time. It is something your loved one can reread whenever they feel like it. I have personally reread meaningful letters many times.

Immortalizing Thoughts and Feelings

Letters are the perfect chance to say all that you want and need to say. While our loved ones should know us better than others, we cannot assume that they will always know what we think or feel. People are not mind readers. We cannot expect our loved ones to read our minds or to know what we do not say. Even if they knew, it is still a good idea to reaffirm that knowledge by writing it out. This is a great way to show your appreciation for them.

A Unique Legacy

When I was younger, I was very proud of a book of love letters that I owned. Being young and impressionable, I tried to copy the style of great men who wrote love letters. In particular, I liked the style of Napoleon Bonaparte for his passion towards his wife Josephine. But over time, I came to realize that his style was not my style. In the end, it is far better for me to write in a way that comes naturally.

Each letter you write is the sum of your influences and experiences. It reflects your unique style and view of the world. All that you need to write a meaningful letter is sincerity. Write from the heart as if you were having a heartfelt talk with your loved one. Write clearly, honestly and openly. Share your inner world with the people you love. As long as they keep these letters, your loved ones will always have a part of you that they can carry with them years into the future. Through your letters, they will always have good memories that you leave behind.

Letter or Email?

While it is faster to write an email, a letter is more meaningful because of the effort involved. Still, the key point here is to record your thoughts and feelings for the people you love through writing. The medium you use is not so important. A heartfelt email due to daily life constrains is better than not writing or expressing yourself at all. But it would still be a good idea to put in the effort to write a letter from time to time. Your loved ones will appreciate you even more for it.

Taking Action

What are your views on writing? Do you write often to your love ones? Do you express your innermost thoughts? Is email or letters better for you? Or do you do a mixture of both? What other ways do you know of to show your appreciation? How else do you immortalize each moment? Do share your thoughts and comments below!

28 Responses to “How to Immortalize Special Moments in Life”

What a beautiful post and great reminder of the power of the word – this is the second post that I read today about writing an actual letter – not a text or email so I have been convicted and it’s time to get the pen and actually write a letter. I shall!

Heartfelt for sure is the best way to write – being vulnerable and transparent to the one you love is a beautiful thing and allows the love to grow even more.

Many of my friends tell me that writing in a sheet of a paper is an activities of old people, But I stand up ans speaks “The reason why I have all of these great success and find my Lovable family” is because of writing.Kristine24 recently posted..How To Conceive Twins

I feel everyone should practice expressing themselves regardless of their age. Many of us do not express ourselves clearly or as often as we should until it is too late. Then there is a lot of regrets we have to deal with.

Writing heartfelt letters does wonders for relationships that are important to you.

I have always been a big believer in writing my thoughts and feelings into a journal. I like looking back on my early years and being able to remember that time because of what I wrote. I also often remark about how great it is that people write about their lives and we can relive their lives hundreds of years later.

But I’ve never thought about writing a love letter to my husband so that it can stay in his memory from this point forward. Why haven’t I done this before?!

I hope that you wrote a wonderful letter to your husband for Valentine’s Day. But at the same time, I see no reason why you should restrict your letter writing to just special occasions. All we have in this world are moments. Since you have that special someone in your life, it is a good idea to write as often as you can when the mood strikes you. It is what I would do myself if I were in your shoes.

Hi Irving! I think one thing you pointed out is worth repeating: EVERY MOMENT is a chance for gratefulness. I think that is extremely profound. And it made me think. How many moments have we experienced that we would NEVER want to experience again? I can think of plenty. Moments where I had my heart broken. Usually those moments were following extremely memorable moments. The loss of a loved one, a broken heart, a friend who moves away. Those moments – though not always pleasant, serve as brilliant reminders of just how blessed we are to have experienced them. And we should be most grateful.

I like to read books that are made up of letters between lovers. I bought a book of love letters between former American President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy. It was a collection of letters he wrote to her through the years. They contain that old Hollywood classic movie style of writing that should involve Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Whatever your political view, they are beautiful.

A book recently surfaced from deceased comedian George Carlin and his wife. Funny little love notes that made up an entire book. Brilliant.

Certainly a letter beats an email. I don’t think I would like receiving a love letter in the form of an email message. It just might get lost as I have thousands of email in my inbox left unopened and more coming in everyday. I have kept special ones from my children and hubby….you are right…they are a treasure to keep!

Wow….you are certainly very diligent in studying love letters written by others. I am amazed! But I am also glad to know that you found out that writing naturally beats copying. Great!Evelyn Lim recently posted..10 Free Love Coupons For Your Download

Hello Irving,
A wonderful post! Gratitude is such a wonderful emotion that it shouldn’t be left to chance. Every morning Kathy sends me two pictures of some fondly remembered shared experience from our travels and life experiences. We get to relive the moment and treasure that wonderful feeling of gratitude and feel blessed that we have each other to share these moments. It’s a great way to start the day. Wish you the best.
RileyRiley Harrison recently posted..BLOGGING SUCCESS – WHAT PRICE ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY?

What a great provoking article, so many words of wisdom to ponder with. I love the idea of immortalizing the special moments in life, a little bit confusing but as I did a thorough reading to it I understand what it means. Memories is enough but writing down every special moments that happen in life is much better.Annette Golphin recently posted..Timber Windows & Timber Doors

Memories by themselves are beautiful. But unless we make the effort to share our memories of special events with loved ones, only we will have those memories. Also, our loved ones may not remember the same event in the same way. We all have unique views after all. Thus, I feel it is better to write and share to immortalize special moments.

My daughter left a Valentine surprise on my desk–some candy, a tea mug, and a card with a handwritten note expressing her appreciation and love for me. Which do you think I will treasure most?!

Like others, I like your insight about the treasure of every moment, precious and fleeting. Like a Tibetan sand painting. We can’t always preserve it, but we can remember the joy and blessing it brings.Galen Pearl recently posted..Be Glad In It

I am a big fan of the written letter. ‘Wordsmithery’ is a skill that is gradually being eroded by technology sadly and I would much more value a letter or card than email – although email is also quite valuable now as many people don’t use it preferring to tweet limited structure sentences or use equally limited text.

Words put on paper can be eternal and would probably go some way to erase angry words which also tend to linger longer than kind words spoken. I would also perhaps organize a special treat unique to that person for the day if I wanted that moment to be immortalized.pea recently posted..Simple Determination

Yeah I know what you mean when you say wordsmithery is being eroded by technology. Change is inevitable. But this just means we have to put in the effort we need to maintain habits that are important to us like writing letters and if need be emails.

Indeed a written and heartfelt letter can help to ease words spoken in anger. It all comes down to the effort we choose to make.

Such a nice article! I love all of your tips to immortalize our special events or feelings. The most unique immortalization safe is the human brain, our memories are the only things which cannot taken away from us.Julie recently posted..dental cosmetic

i completely agree about letters!!! i have a whole box of letter paper and envelopes i had kept since high school. we used to write our classmates letters
it was all good fun
now i write a letter to some friends occasionally and they all jump with glee. no one uses pen and paper anymore
and yes, like you know, i wrte letters to myself
Noch NochNoch Noch | be me. be natural. recently posted..10 things not to say to a depressed person (and please don’t ever say to me either)

Tis true, Irving. I have found nothing communicates sincere appreciation and gratitude than an actual letter on actual paper these days. If you are to live for yourself, you must feel for yourself. When we engage in act of appreciative letter writing that brings out the best in someone, it’s because we see him as a valuable being. We couldn’t see this value if we didn’t see ourselves as valuable. What better way to help others help themselves, than to appreciate their worthiness and to help them to see it? We are not only able to help our generation; we are able to help the next generation as well, by simply feeling worthy and wanting to spread the word.rob white recently posted..The Purpose of Aging

When I write actual letters on actual paper, I always make sure to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the person as you say. I always make it a point to do so because I feel they deserve to know how I feel towards them. It is as you say, I see the person as a valuable being and a vital part of my life.

I do not know what kind of chain reaction my actions will set off, but I make it a point never to miss a chance to express how I genuinely feel.

I especially enjoyed the beginning quote. We should certainly cherish our loved ones while they’re still here.

I’d have to say that I enjoy both, handwritten letters and emails. I think both show an appreciation for those we love, and who we want them to know how we feel about them. While the handwritten letter is more personal than the email, either one can get the point across if the words are chosen that present our true feelings. Other forms I choose to use in immortalizing those special moments are greeting card and little post it notes. They deliver those feelings as well.

The Unique Legacy portion of this post was my favorite part. I loved what you had to say about the book of love letters and the conclusion you came too. I’ve done that myself, and come to the very same conclusion. We can appreciate other’s way of doing things, but we have to learn how to express our own style of writing.

Yeah we don’t really have forever with our loved ones so we have to cherish them while we can.

I am fine with handwritten letters and emails. Handwritten letters certainly take more effort. But emails allow you to express yourself more in a faster way.

Greeting cards and little post it notes are great ideas to show your love for someone. It might also be a good idea to hide letters or messages where your loved one can stumble across to surprise them.